Football season is here, which means tailgating is in full swing. Even if you’re not a sports fan, getting together with friends before a game to eat and drink is a pretty idyllic way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon.
And to paraphrase Ole Miss, notorious for its chandelier-draped tents and catered spreads at its famous tailgates in The Grove, you may not win every game, but you can always win a tailgate.
One tailgate that’s sure to be a touchdown is the Southern Living Lowcountry Tailgate at the Food & Wine Classic in Charleston this November. A stacked lineup of chefs — including Nyesha Arrington, Hector Garate, and the “godfather of good hamburgers,” George Motz — will dole out a range of dishes including Southern barbecue, accompanied by live music and craft cocktails.
There is, however, a way to seriously fumble your pregame event: not handling your food properly. We asked two of the participating chefs, Elliott Moss and Maneet Chauhan, to give us their best tips for a winning tailgating spread.
Related: 8 Regional Tailgate Classics Everyone Should Know, From Buffalo Wings to Seattle Dogs
But first, what are the chefs serving in November?
Moss is the owner of Elliott’s BBQ Lounge in Florence, South Carolina, which was just named Southern Living’s top new barbecue spot in the South. (He happens to share my first name and my hometown). Moss focuses on whole hog barbecue, and for the event will be serving whole hog sliders with a vinegar barbecue sauce, crispy pork skin, and pimiento cheese.
Chauhan is a judge for the popular Food Network show Chopped and owner of Morph Hospitality Group in Nashville. She specializes in Indian cuisine, and is incorporating a popular Southern tailgating food – boiled peanuts — into her dish by making boiled peanut chaat. It will incorporate chutney, vegetables, boiled peanuts, “crunchies,” as she calls them, and pomegranate seeds.
Bring the right equipment
“Keeping things hot that are supposed to be hot and cold that are supposed to be cold is pretty important,” Moss says of having a successful and safe tailgate. To this end, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of ice on hand.
Moss is a Yeti ambassador, and says that company’s coolers “keep things frozen for days,” but any cooler that can keep your ice intact will do.
Related: The 8 Best Coolers, According to Our Tests
For hot food, you’ll want to have chafing dishes with sterno cans underneath to keep a consistent temperature.
If you’re planning on grilling, Chauhan says she’s seen people use the same cutting boards to handle raw and cooked meat, which is a big no-no. Make sure you have multiple boards if you don’t have a way to properly wash them during your event.
She adds that buying disposable spoons and forks can ensure you’re not using the same ones during prep and serving. Hand sanitizer is also a must, especially if you’re handling food at all.
Know the limits, especially for sneaky sides
Keeping food the temperature it should be seems intuitive enough, but I’ve been to many a tailgate and church potluck where pigs in a blanket or deviled eggs are left out to sit for hours at a time.
Both Moss and Chauhan stress the importance of making sure food stays out of the “danger zone,” the temperature range where bacteria is most likely to grow rapidly. Food either needs to be over 40°F or under 140°F to stay out of this zone.
That generally means perishable food should not sit out for more than two hours, or more than one hour when the temperature is above 90°F.
Related: 8 Grilling and Barbecue Mistakes You’re Probably Making
And this goes for anything perishable on the table.
“The sneaky things that make a big difference are the sides,” says Chauhan. “You think you can leave coleslaw or fruit out, but it’s not on ice, and you need to be really careful about that, especially on a hot day.”
Swap food out regularly
Instead of having big platters of food, use smaller serving dishes at your tailgate to keep food at the proper temperature.
“You don’t really need to make one large table and have everything on it,” Chauhan says. “Keep shuffling your food to make sure that the best product is out there.”
“You could also use the top of a cooler as kind of a display for the things that are cold and have the cold food sitting on top of the ice inside on platters or little containers,” Moss adds.
The one dish you’re leaving out too long
One tailgate food that Moss often sees left out too long is cheese and charcuterie displays. “It gets a little sweaty and it’s not very good after just a few minutes sitting outside,” he says. Keeping it on ice on your table is always an option, but using smaller portions and swapping in fresh ingredients often may be a better solution.
Think about it as coursing out your tailgate in your planning, so that you factor in multiple swaps throughout the day.
Related: The 10 Best Charcuterie Boards, According to Our Tests
Cool hot food quickly
After your tailgate is over, if you want to save any hot leftovers you’ll need to cool them down immediately.
“A lot of that stuff gets put in a pan and in the back of someone’s car,” Moss says, which means the food will be in the danger zone temperature range and ripe for bacteria growth. Make sure you have enough cooler space and ice on hand so that hot food can chill quickly. If that’s not possible, you may want to consider tossing the leftovers to prevent anyone from getting sick.
Have fun and be safe
Tailgates are meant to be fun, so you shouldn’t spend all day stressing about whether your food is safe or not. Focus on keeping things at the right temperature by using the right equipment and swapping food out regularly, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful event.
Read the original article on Food & Wine
